CANTON, Ga. (November 22, 2024) – The Southern Athletic Association has announced its All-Conference football teams and special awards in celebration of the historic 2024 season. The SAA is sending three teams to the NCAA Playoff for the first time in its history with co-champions Berry, Centre, and Trinity advancing to the postseason.
 
Berry running back Brandon Cade was named the SAA Offensive Player of the Year while teammate Jake Whitten was named Defensive Player of the Year. Trinity’s Tyler Huettel repeated as Special Teams Player of the Year and Dawson White of Sewanee is the Newcomer of the Year. Brandon Lechtenberg of Millsaps was selected as the Coach of the Year.
 
All-SAA voting and selection of the All-Sportsmanship team was conducted among the conference’s head coaches.
 
Offensive Player of the Year – Brandon Cade (Junior/Duluth, Ga.) – after putting together a 1,000 yard rushing season where he also led the conference in touchdowns, Cade became the first SAA Offensive Player of the Year in Vikings history. The junior ran for 1,023 yards on the season, averaging 113.7 a night to rank in the top-30 in the nation. Cade totaled 18 touchdowns and was sixth nationally in scoring while his 16 rushing touchdowns was eighth-best in Division III. He had a career game against Trinity, running for 234 yards on 30 carries with four touchdowns on the ground and another through the air.  
 
Defensive Player of the Year – Jake Whitten (Senior/Loganville, Ga.) – a game wrecker from his defensive back position, Whitten gives Berry its fourth SAA Defensive Player of the Year honor. The senior was the anchor to the SAA’s top scoring defense, leading the Vikings and finishing eighth in the league with 61 total tackles. He had 36 solo stops to go along with one sack and a pass breakup. Whitten started the year with a 10 tackle performance against Huntingdon and had his best conference game against Trinity, totaling eight tackles. He joins Bryson Lamboy in 2018 and Mamadou Soumahoro in 2017 and 2016 as Vikings to win the award.
 
Special Teams Player of the Year – Tyler Huettel (Senior/McKinney, Texas) – one of the most prolific kickers in SAA history, Huettel won his second straight conference Special Teams Player of the Year honor. The senior hit 17-21 field goals this season with four coming from beyond 40 yards, including a 49-yarder at Hendrix. Huettel also had 59 punts, averaging 39 yards per kick with seven pinning opponents inside the 20. In overtime against Berry, he nailed a walk-off 33-yard field goal that kept the Tigers in the SAA Championship race. Tigers have been voted the Special Teams Player of the Year six times, Huettel each of the last two seasons, BJ Stewart in 2022, Chris Stewart in 2021 and Michael Edmonson in both 2019 and spring 2021. 
 
Newcomer of the Year – Dawson White (First Year/Lynchburg, Tenn.) - after making an immediate impact for the upstart Tigers, White brought Sewanee’s fourth overall and second-straight SAA Newcomer of the Year award to The Domain. The first year running back established himself as one of the offensive threats in the league, rushing for 490 yards and four touchdowns on the season. He also caught 19 passes for 165 yards and two scores. Twice he eclipsed 100 yards on the ground, racking up 138 against Rhodes with two total touchdowns and 105 yards against Hendrix. Teammate Jacorin Thomas was the Newcomer of the Year last season while William Phillips in 2017 and Brandon Campbell in 2012 also won the award for Sewanee.  
 
Coach of the Year - Brandon Lechtenberg (First Season) – picked last in the SAA preseason poll, Lechtenberg orchestrated a breakthrough season for the Majors, finishing 4-5 overall and fourth in the league at 3-4. He started the season by winning the rivalry sword over cross town Belhaven 23-21. Lechtenberg won on the road against Sewanee and Southwestern while picking up a thrilling 27-26 homecoming win over Hendrix. He boasts 11 All-SAA performers this season, including four on either the first or second team. Lechtenberg was the Millsaps defensive coordinator for six seasons from 2011-16 and returned in 2024 to lead the Majors program. He joins Aaron Pelch in 2012 and 2013 as Millsaps SAA Coach of the Year recipients.

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2024 FOOTBALL ALL-SAA (.pdf)
Offensive Player of the Year – Brandon Cade (Berry)
Defensive Player of the Year – Jake Whitten (Berry)
Special Teams Player of the Year – Tyler Huettel (Trinity)
Newcomer of the Year – Dawson White (Sewanee)
Coach of the Year –  Brandon Lechtenberg (Millsaps)

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE	FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
QB – Jack Gohmann (Centre) RB – Brandon Cade (Berry) RB – Leroy Rodriguez (Southwestern) WR – Dyer Barnes (Sewanee) WR – Brendan Gray (Berry) WR – Kanyn Utley (Hendrix) TE/H-BACK – Parker Turley (Hendrix) OL – Caleb Bayer (Trinity) OL – Hayden Cagle (Berry) OL – Tonny Garcia (Berry) OL – John Hughes (Trinity) OL – Aiden Jackson (Centre) K – Tyler Huettel (Trinity)	DL – Luke Carlton (Berry) DL – Dawson Livingston (Berry) DL – Jonathan Nwobodo (Trinity) DL – Maurion Williams-Jack (Southwestern) LB – Mario Brewer, Jr. (Centre) LB – Grady Bryant (Berry) LB – Nehemiah Coalson (Millsaps) LB – Cade Rabson (Trinity) CB – DJ James (Southwestern) CB – Kristofer Thomas (Berry) S – Kason Holder (Sewanee) S – Jake Whitten (Berry) P – Jack Satterfield (Sewanee)
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE	SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
QB – Jacob Buniff (Hendrix) RB – Legend Grigsby (Trinity) RB – Dawson White (Sewanee) WR – Brent Barlow (Rhodes) WR – Blake Busson (Centre) WR – BJ Rainey (Trinity) TE/H-BACK – Hunter Coleman (Berry) OL – Conner Keele (Trinity) OL – McCormack Langford (Berry) OL – Jake Nash (Centre) OL – Reed Richards (Berry) OL – Josh Taylor (Southwestern) K – Cam Tegge (Centre)	DL – Michael Clark (Berry) DL – Tristian Johnson (Hendrix) DL – Max Shilstone (Trinity) DL – Adam Wicktom (Centre) DL – Braylon Wills (Millsaps) LB – Evan Elder (Centre) LB – Keegan Glaze (Sewanee) LB – Caleb Harmon (Southwestern) LB – JJ Jones (Centre) LB – Christopher Lewis (Berry) LB – James Ogunrin (Trinity) CB – Delvin Gantt (Trinity) CB – Nick Willis (Berry) S – Tre Jones (Millsaps) S – Jameer Martin (Southwestern) P – Ethan Klapatch (Millsaps)
HONORABLE MENTION
Berry – Khamari Smith (WR), Bryce Herring (WR), Tyler Martin (OL), Alex Mincey (DL), Gian Traverzo (S) Centre – Scotty Brown (WR), Travis Maufer (TE/H-Back), Wyatt Fowler (DL), Ryan Pyles (DL), Jamikel James(CB), Parker Guillaume (CB), Nick Grant (S), Will Boehm (P), Hendrix – Auvic White (RB), Jax Johnson (WR), Matthew Winger (OL), Jackson Stiles (OL) Millsaps – Cole Canatella (QB), Willie Elliott (WR), Kaiden Reese (TE/H-Back), Larry Francois III (OL), Myles Johnson (DL), Nathan Johnson (DL), W.H. Carver (CB) Rhodes – Mark Fields (OL) Sewanee – Jacorin Thomas (QB), Buck Hardin (OL), Jaylen Mack (CB) Southwestern – Isaac Podraza (TE/H-Back), Charlie Fournier (K/P), Liam Phelan (DL) Trinity – Ryan Back (QB), Winston Hutchison (RB), Will Taylor (WR), Alejandro Tavarez (WR), Alex Thiel (TE/H-Back), Steele Herndon (DL), Ryan Ventura (S), Anthony Njoku (S), Lukas Morin (S)
All-Sportsmanship Team: Berry – Hayden Cagle Centre - Scotty Brown Hendrix – Auvic White Millsaps – Nicholas Eaton Rhodes –  Evan Reeder Sewanee – Harris Cravens Southwestern – Demetruis Elko Trinity - Will Taylor

 
 

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All-Time SAA Football Players of the Year

	Offense	Defense	Special Teams	Newcomer	Coach
2024	Brandon Cade, Berry	Jake Whitten, Berry	Tyler Huettel, Trinty	Dawson White, Sewanee	Brandon Lechtenberg, Millsaps
2023	Tucker Horn, Trinity	Caleb Harmel, Trinity	Tyler Huettel, Trinity	Jacorin Thomas, Sewanee	Tony Kunczewski, Berry
2022	Tucker Horn, Trinity	Armon Wells, Centre	BJ Stewart, Trinity	Bryce Herring, Berry	Jerheme Urban, Trinity
2021	Tucker Horn, Trinity	Caleb Harmel, Trinity	Chris Stewart, Trinity	Brandon Cade, Berry	Jerheme Urban, Trinity
Spring '21	Aaron Rideaux, Austin	Campbell Miller, Trinity	Michael Edmonson, Trinity	James Ogunrin, Trinity	Tony Kunczewski, Berry
	Robert Shufford, BSC	Clayton Bell, Centre	Brock Skinner, Berry	Trentin Dupper, Centre
2019	Robert Shufford, BSC	Liam Vinifora, Millsaps	Michael Edmonson, Trinity	Gavin Gray, Berry	Jerheme Urban, Trinity
2018	Tanner Young, Centre	Bryson Lamboy, Berry	CJ Stone, Berry	Gentry Neese, BSC	Tony Kunczewski, Berry
2017	Miles Thompson, Hendrix	Mamadou Soumahoro, Berry	Jamal Watkins, BSC	William Phillips, Sewanee	Tony Kunczewski, Berry
2016	Dayton Winn, Hendrix	Mamadou Soumahoro, Berry	Jamal Watkins, BSC	Cal Lewellyn, Centre	Tony Kunczewski, Berry
2015	Dayton Winn, Hendrix	Michael Shield, Rhodes	Jamal Watkins, BSC	Kevin Grier, Berry	Buck Buchanan, Hendrix
2014	Seth Peters, Hendrix	Devon Freeman, Centre	Steve Crenshaw, Hendrix	Andrew Busby, Centre	Andy Frye, Centre
2013	Mike Barthelemy, Millsaps	Zach Bell, Millsaps	Beau Brady, Millsaps	Dayton Winn, Hendrix	Aaron Pelch, Millsaps
2012	Garrett Pinciotti, Millsaps	Zach Bell, Millsaps	Jordan Gay, Centre	Brandon Campbell, Sewanee	Aaron Pelch, Millsaps